ASCILITE NEWS

ascilite 2014 Conference Update

Our keynote lineup of Carmel McNaught, Sara de Freitas and Niki Davis are leading an exciting programme of speakers, papers, sharing practice sessions and symposia in ascilite2014.

Google Cardboard Challenge

Get your thinking caps and goggles on. In 150 words or less describe an educational application for Google cardboard and be in to win a smartphone controlled robot!

Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:

Educational design (How well the use of Google cardboard aligns with intended learning goals)

Innovation in pedagogical approach (What teaching/learning problem does your idea solve or how is your idea new in your teaching context) and Portability to other discipline areas.

Email your submission with 'Google Carboard Challenge' in the subject line. Entries close at the start of the conference (23 November) and you must be registered to attend the conference in order to enter.

Paper List Now Available to View

The full conference programme will be published on the ascilite2014 website this week. However, in the meantime, you can view a provisional list of papers that will be presented here.

Monday Night at the Museum

Monday Night at the Museum is building up a head of steam! Lots of people are signing up for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles at Toitu, Early Settlers Museum in the company of Josephine our resident steam engine. Plus, tours of antique computers, media and films alongside contemporary hands-on "ed tech" exhibits. Sign up when you register for ascilite2014 – it's FREE!

Accommodation

Accommodation is selling out, so book now – there are still great places to stay within easy walking distance of the conference but be quick!

Follow us on Twitter @ascilite14 and use #ascilite2014 to promote your presentation!

Don't forget to pack your steampunk gear and we look forward to giving you a warm Dunedin welcome very soon!

Jenny, Bronwyn and the ascilite2014 Conference Team

ascilite Welcomes New Institutional Members

ascilite welcomes La Trobe University along with Otago Polytechnic and Manukau Institute of Technology from New Zealand as the latest institutional members. An institution requires as few as ten individuals to qualify for institutional membership to realize savings on the individual membership fee rate.

If you are interested, you will find details on the ascilite website here. You can also email the Secretariat to obtain further information. The full list of current institutional members is displayed below each page on the ascilite website.

Executive Committee Poll Now Open: Please Vote!

All ascilite members are encouraged to vote for members of the Executive Committee and if you were a current member as of 7 October, you would have received an email with instructions on how to vote, including a personal link to the poll on that date. Look for "2014 Executive Committee Election Poll" in the subject line.

View Nominee Profiles

You can view profiles of each nominee who is standing in the election but you will need the email referred to above in order to caste your vote.

Importance of Voting

ascilite Executive Committee members perform critical volunteer roles that ensure ascilite remains a sustainable, vibrant and relevant tertiary education community. As an ascilite community member, we hope that you will consider your vote carefully to ensure the continuing success of the peak professional body for digital learning and teaching in Australasia.

OTHER NEWS

New Report: Mapping Australia Higher Education, 2014 – 2015

A new report from the Grattan Institute (Andrew Norton) on Mapping Australian higher education 2014-15 has just been released and you can view it here. It offers an interesting overview of trends and the current state of play in Higher Education.

e-Assessment Session Recordings Now Available

All 8 session recordings are now available from the e-Assessment Scotland & Transforming Assessment Joint Online Conference (e-exams theme).

View them as Youtube screen casts (recommended!) or webinar system archives. The slides, chat log, links and additional resources are included on each session page. View the session list here.

Places are strictly limited and ascilite members are strongly encouraged to register early. Additional information about the Symposium is available on the website. You can also follow the symposium on Twitter #ausoer14

2014 Australian Learning Analytics Summer Institute

The 2014 Australian Learning Analytics Summer Institute (ALASI) will run from 20 – 21 November at the University of Technology Sydney. Building on the success of last year, ALASI is the premier forum in Australia for the exchange of knowledge and innovation in learning analytics.

Keynote addresses from Gregor Kennedy and Anne Young will offer distinctive leader/researcher/practitioner perspectives and will combine with workshops, tutorials, and panel discussions to create a friendly, challenging event: engage with the national community right at the intersection of data, algorithms, pedagogy and strategy. The 2nd call for contributions is now out (deadline – 17 October) as well as registration (early bird deadline – 31 October).

Further details are available on the website link above.

Wearable Technologies Survey: Win an iPad Mini

You are invited to participate in a study of the current and potential applications of wearable technologies such as Google Glasses in Higher Education. If you choose to participate you will be asked to complete a confidential online survey that explores your knowledge and beliefs surrounding the educational applications of wearable technologies. The questionnaire contains a combination of short answer and Likert-scale questions, including background information about yourself and your teaching career/experience, your perceptions of wearable technologies, your ideas about use cases and potential avenues of future research.

The survey should take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You are in no way obliged to take part in this survey, but if you do you can go into a draw to win an iPad Mini.

If you are interested or would like more information please follow this link.

Many thanks to those who participate and if you have any colleagues who would be interested in this study then please forward this email on to them.

The call for virtual presentation proposals begins on October 2, 2014 with the deadline for proposal submission on November 30, 2014. The virtual presentations will be held on June 17, 2015, Day One of the Symposium. Considering the time difference, virtual presentation sessions are scheduled from 8:00 PM — 10:00 PM Beijing time.

This Summer International Research Symposium, serving as an open-discussion forum, is designed to draw the best minds together for an intensive intellectual exchange of ideas/information on research, development, and application of all topics related to learning and knowledge analytics in open education in all disciplines. Virtual presenters are expected to involve participants in the discussions.

The Symposium will be presented in English. You will need to write the proposal and paper in English, and upon proposal approval, present your topic and facilitate discussion in English.

You are invited to attend the virtual event of the AECT-LKAOE 2015 Summer International Research Symposium if you are not able to join us in Shanghai, China. Three reviewers will blindly review proposals and papers for inclusion in the conference program and proceedings. For a better understanding of the review critera, please peruse review criteria and scoring system. For advice on writing an effective proposal, please click Effective Proposals to read AECT Principles 1 – 10.

ALT News Digest 309

Association for Learning Technology Fortnightly News Digest 309 was issued on 10 October 2014. ALT's journal – Research in Learning Technology is open access. Articles from the past 20 years are available here.